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Cadden Blackthorne/Legends
Cadden Blackthorne was born at the end of the Clone Wars, to Faarel and Trina Blackthorne. Since then, he has developed into a strong individual, and become quite the formidable warrior. He is the older brother of Tamerah Blackthorne. Biography Cadden Blackthorne has always been a strong individual. Being only about thirty-five standard years of age, he has grown into a powerful man, a powerful Jedi, as well as the leader of the Mandalorian Protectors. Cadden is gifted with the heightened awareness to the Force, and the wake which others leave behind within it. This allows Cadden to be able to feel other people's presence from days gone by, and if the wake is "fresh" enough, and Cadden's connection to the person who formed it is strong enough, he can follow it in pursuit of the individual. Cadden has an ongoing struggle with the dark side of the Force. The Nomad Soul and the Dark Jedi Teslar Maladan both took interest in him, but both for their own separate reasons. During his entire life, Cadden has served as a mercenary and, most notably, a bounty hunter. In recent times, he has traveled to Mandalore, where he had acquired the trust of the Mandalorian people, and has become the new Mandalore. With his skills as a bounty hunter and warrior augmented by his abilities as a Jedi and a strong foundation in the Force, Cadden has constructed himself into a fierce warrior and spirited individual. However, in recent times, Cadden has fallen to the Dark Side in pursuit of additional power, to aid him in the quest to avenge his father's death. This pursuit lead hastily to a well-conceived plan by the Nomad Soul to take over Cadden's body, a plan which had partially failed, and instead the two merged their souls into a single identity. Knowing he could never return to the Jedi Order, Cadden set out on his own, with but one ally to accompany him. The Galactic Civil War Death of a Family Cadden learned of his father's death at the age of sixteen, after being told to flee to safety away from Coronet (and thus traveled to Dantooine with his father's most trusted friend and Cadden’s personal trainer afterwards, Taren Casadar) and left for Corellia about an hour after the report was made. When he arrived, his fears were true... Faarel and Trina, his beloved and benevolent parents, were dead. Cadden was outraged, but that didn't stop him from investigating the matter. He had come to a conclusion that it was someone from within the Empire that had killed his parents. Unable to investigate further, Cadden returned to Dantooine. However, eventually the Empire caught on to where Cadden and Taren were hidden, and attacked Dantooine. Taren instructed Cadden to flee the planet, and reluctantly, he did so. And so began Cadden's career as a mercenary. While Cadden was getting used to his new life, he wound up working as hired muscle for several walks of life. Working on retainer for Jabba the Hutt, as well as other Hutt crimelords, Cadden gained enough notoriety in the Underworld to be trusted with most individuals. The more he accomplished, the more he made. Eventually, Cadden had his own small fortune. It was roughly 500,000 credits, but it was enough for Cadden to retire from the work of a mercenary for a while. He used what few ties he had to begin on the investigation of his parents' deaths, and traveled back to Corellia to search the Blackthorne Estate. He spent the next several weeks performing investigative work, discovering what he could about the perpetrators and the details of his family's fall. Soon, Cadden had learned that the Imperial Inquisitor was responsible, acting with orders directly from the Emperor himself. It was not enough for Cadden, and so he journeyed into the sublevel of the estate, searching for more clues to his parents' deaths. He was looking for those directly responsible, not for those he would never get a chance in finding, and taking his revenge on. It was in the sublevels of the estate that Cadden found a data disc. Believing it to be something that could lead him to those responsible for his misery, Cadden searched the data on the disc. He soon found information about the whereabouts of a suit of armor, which had belonged to one of his ancestors. Dawn of a Legend Cadden followed the trail, having to fight many fights over the next couple months, before he found himself on Dathomir, and the location of an old hut. Entering the former homestead, Cadden found a chest, sealed shut and air-tight. He spent the next couple days attempting to open the chest, until he finally was able to open it. Contained inside was a full suit of blood-red Mandalorian Armor. Cadden looked at the perfectly-preserved legendary piece of equipment with awe, all the while wondering how anyone of his family could have gotten their hands on such a thing. It was at that point Cadden was a free man. From that moment on, Cadden trained himself rigorously on several different worlds, taking on beasts of nature big and small alike. During this timeframe, Cadden had purchased a Firespray-class Patrol Ship, dubbing it the Pursuer based off of his pursuit for his Mandalorian armor. He used this ship as his personal transport, and each week he put a distinct modification to it. Like Boba Fett, Cadden had remained silent about the origins of his armor. He used the mysticism, and the perk that a similar Boba Fett was a notorious bounty hunter, to climb even higher in notoriety in the Underworld, until Cadden had become a very common household name. Not even the Empire was capable of touching him at this point, for the Blackthorne bounty hunter had become one of the most feared individuals in the fringes of space, next to Boba Fett, Bossk, IG-88, Raptor, and other well-known bounty hunters. Cadden made certain to upkeep and upgrade his armor as often as he was able. He modified his armor to include a macrobinocular viewplate helmet, motion and sound sensors, infrared capabilities, an internal comlink with his ship, the Pursuer, and a broadband antenna for intercepting and decoding transmissions. Wrist gauntlets housed lasers, a miniature flame projector, and a fibercord whip/grappling device; a backpack jet pack included a turbo-projected magnetic grappling hook with twenty-meter lanyard. Cadden also carried a knee-pad rocket dart launcher, spiked boots, a concussion-gernade launcher, and a BlasTech EE-3 rifle. Even though his gizmos were that of Fett, Cadden's skills didn't quite equal the other hunter's, but he was confident that soon he would get the opportunity to rise to second best soon enough. Throughout his life, Cadden had worked as a warrior, a politician, mechanic, a trader, businessman, mercenary, soldier, personal guard, assassin, and, most frequently, as a bounty hunter - one of the most expensive bounty hunters in the known systems. He collected 150,000 credits for the capture of a notorious pirate, and took 500,000 credits when he caught the religious Twi'lek heretic Grok for the Hutts. The only hunter who had bested his work during his career as a hunter was the famed Boba Fett. .]] Cadden never took his helmet off, not for anybody or under any occasion. It was rumored that he was a grotesquely disfigured man, and was ashamed of seeing his own face. Another rumor had it that he did not wish to be reminded of his family, and the tragedy that remained in the memory of Corellia. The truth behind Cadden's behavior remained the same, however, in the fact that he used the armor to strike fear into others. He was quick and agile enough to hunt without it, but Cadden knew that anyone whom bore Mandalorian armor automatically gained the respect of others. Cadden returned to working for the Hutts, and got a hefty salary out of his occupation with them, and even started working for the Empire. He was always slow and methodical and as unpredictable as the shifting sands of Tatooine. He rarely lost his quarry, and had shown no remorse for their fate. Cadden was known to work with other bounty hunters, but his motives may have been to show the others up; Cadden had always emerged as the one who caught the prize. He had yet to actually test his skills against the famed Boba Fett and find out who was the better hunter. Tangled Webs Soon, Cadden would get that chance. Upon successfully taking down a small-time criminal organization, and a wanted criminal later on Tatooine, Cadden was contacted by a mysterious organization known as the Triad. They hired him to take on a group of smugglers running for a bigger operation involving the illegal, and almost completely outlawed, stubstance known as Chronic. Hardly coincidental was also a series of murders occurring galaxy wide, with traces of this substance left at each of the particular scenes of crimes. The first hit was Carratos, and so Cadden made his way there. Upon arrival, he received a second bounty on a gang of pirates who had been hoarding on outbound cargo from the world, thus putting a heavier taxation on the already-taxed citizens below. Having a suspicion that the piracy may grant him a lead in the Chronic case, Cadden took on the proposition as well, unknowing that he would get more than he had bargained for. As Cadden arrived onboard the pirate ship, all Hell broke loose. He proceeded to wipe out the entire crew inside the docking bay, as his transportation successfully made it out. Thus, Cadden began to eliminate all those in his path, until he would eventually meet up with a young man by the name of Zeek Blitz.... Chasing a Jedi At one point, Cadden had been on hire to intercept and eliminate Jedi Knight Cameo Naton, and was backed by a very large reward. Cadden had spent several weeks tracking Cameo and learning about the other. Opportunity struck when the Jedi was to meet with someone interested in becoming his apprentice on some backwater planet. Cadden had taken the opportunity to exterminate the future apprentice and take the ten thousand credit reward, and used that as his chance to ambush the unsuspecting Jedi Knight. Cameo took the bait, but he had escaped Cadden's grasp. The bounty hunter chased Cameo around for some time, never meeting with success, before he finally gave up the pursuit and accepted the ten thousand, instead of the heavier 900,000 offered on the Jedi Knight, and went on his way. Cadden and Cameo would eventually meet again, nearly fifteen years later. However, Cadden had finally found a chance to face off with the Imperial Inquisitor, Ansara Bansari, responsible for his parents' deaths. He dueled Ansara, and had emerged victorious with nothing more than a mere cut in the Inquisitor's right arm before she fled the scene. Several weeks later, Cadden had finally tracked down and eliminated the team he believed responsible for his parents' deaths, thus effectively removing an aged act of vengeance. Fall of a Hunter As his last jobs, Cadden had turned in the Imperial traitorous senator Ubio for 300,000 credits and a hyperdrive for the one partially responsible for his capture, Councelor Jobe. During the capture of the Bothan former senator, Cadden had run in to a Jedi Knight named Renalla Starrider. He did not know it at that point, but that woman was to be the sole person responsible for his leaving the bounty hunting trade. When Cadden returned from his deliverance of Ubio to Imperial authorities in order to give Jobe his hyperdrive, complications came along and Jobe left the ship to, unexpectedly, Jade. Later Cadden returned and successfully captured Dark Jedi Cazzik Wyn and turned him in to Karde for 1,500,000 credits. That was his last bounty, and Cadden assisted the Dark Jedi in escaping Karde's clutches for reasons unknown. It is unknown how long Cadden had planned to change, but when he did, the entire galaxy was in shock. The famous bounty hunter returned to a life of mystery, simply fading into the dark expanding abyss of space. It was here that he had met Trai Kanossi, whom was masquerading as his brother. Trai helped Cadden discover his potency in the Force, as well as bring him and Renalla together for their first, and last, adventure together. Over the course of time, Cadden had developed a perfection for hiding his presence in the Force. Much like how the Jedi Master Yoda had hid himself with the Dark Tree on Dagobah, but Cadden did not need any kind of mysterious, dark location to remain hidden. It was a trait that could only be perfected to this extent by few, and the Blackthornes were no exception. In order to keep his situation a secret, Cadden had placed an under-the-table order for an HRD, which would look exactly like him, to do his dirty work. For some time, the HRD succeeded in keeping the Empire away from Cadden. After the Battle of Endor Blackthorne Enterprises Later, Cadden finally resurfaced and re-established Blackthorne Enterprises in the Hoth System, a family corporation which operated out of the Udine system generations ago. The company had gotten off to a good start, and continued to see some promising times at the rate it was going, yet Cadden's old ways got the better of him again. The freedom fighter, and now Jedi-in-training, decided to send a kamikaze ship to Bilbringi, the center of the Empire. He was to pilot it, and collide a modified, custom frigate, packed to the max with highly dangerous and explosive missiles and other detonating projectiles into the planetoid, but one of his Elite Guard members, Trasj Ricknas, took it instead. Following the kamikaze attack, the Empire sent massive forces to the already-fleeing Blackthorne Enterprises forces, but they still outnumbered the company three to one. Because of an Interdictor field, Cadden's forces lost approximately 75% of its military forces and around 12% of its evacuees, a heavy loss for the company. Captain Irrad of the Red Star Alliance Star Frigate Benevolent gave the ultimate sacrifice, however, staying behind to delay the Empire. As soon as he knew that the company could escape, the Benevolent self-destructed, destroying all on-board, which seemed to include Cadden's personal ship, the Pursuer. After the Blackthorne Enterprises forces had retreated to Midpoint Station, they hypered out toward their next rendezvous point in a series of jumps to shake the Empire off of their tails. However, Cadden, along with Trai, Tamerah, Ryy'Suuk, and Renalla Starrider, all found themselves in an unknown sector of the Outer Rim to face their ultimate trial of their skills. Trial of a Warrior But while they were stuck on the ice world Talmohkt, Black one-eighteen, Cadden's Human Replica Droid, sacrificed himself to Ket Maliss in order to have the bounty lifted off of the real Cadden Blackthorne's head. His last move was sending out a message to an agent of Cadden's by the name of Kay'l Syao, a message that would have to be given to Ket Maliss prior to the agent's visit to Junrest, in order to get the apparent killer of Cadden Blackthorne a message from Cadden himself (prior to his departure from Midpoint). A week after being on the ice world, Cadden finally faced a great soul stealer named Ulfik Nevekron, who had a Dark Jedi Master inside his essence. After a heated duel, Cadden managed to get a jab through Ulfik's defenses with his lightsaber, killing the man almost instantly. While that was going on, a heated battle between Triad and Imperium forces was going on just outside the spaceport they were sent to destroy. Cadden got the detonators placed and had to manually detonate them, racing the explosion out on a hoverbike and barely escaping with his own life, while I'Flym valiantly saved Renalla's life by stopping a jab at her from an Imperium troop's batton. The troop was confronted by Renalla and Ryy'Suuk and taken away, and Renalla went down to the wounded Cadden. After saying their good-byes, the gang hypered away from the planet and to a secluded, independent system, where Cadden spent the next few weeks recovering from his wounds on the world of Thonner. However, when he had first awoken, he discovered Renalla had left, and perhaps would never know of the real reasons why. As soon as he was healed, he was cleared of all doubts. He could not remain hidden forever... but he did know that there was one thing he had yet to do. Unaware of what was stirring within his own essence, Cadden departed from the others in a personal fighter he had acquired, to seclusion once again. During this time, he had constructed his own, unique lightsaber. It was sometime during this time period that Cadden ran into an individual named Zan Fyar. Sensing the man's potential in the Force, Cadden took it upon himself to train Fyar as the first Guardian of the Force to follow in Cadden's footsteps. He warned Zan of the dangerous path that is walked, being a Guardian, and for a time, the two ventured together as instructor and pupil. To Fall and Rise Back Up Later, Cadden received a call for help from a familiar source - Talmohkt, the ice world in which Cadden and his friends had returned from but a standard year prior. Cadden accepted the stressed call for aid, and returned to the ice world, alone this time. However, the call was a trap - the Nomad Soul had returned in his full form, a grotesque alien by the name of Klatonn. Klatonn, the original Nomad Soul, had gathered enough strength to return from the netherworld, whereupon he goaded Cadden to the Dark Side by claiming to be the cause of the deaths of his entire family, including Renalla Starrider. Cadden, infuriated, charged the Nomad Soul, lightsaber in hand and blade extended, and brought the saber down on the ancient nemesis of his with all his might. However, Klatonn had a new apprentice with him - a man by the name of Carth Dyral. Carth blocked the blow, but Cadden simply kicked the younger man away in response, and cut Klatonn down. Letting his rage take over, Cadden released a destructive surge of energy on Klatonn, completely destroying the creature's body, and sending his spirit back into the abyss. But at a great cost. With that simple act, Cadden had engulfed himself in the Dark Side, and soon after the defeat of the Nomad Soul, Cadden arose to the creature's place. He led Talmohkt into a revolutionary stage, where the planet was to engage in modern technological advances of space, a movement that the people accepted well, but was masked with a true purpose - Cadden, with his newfound rage and dark powers, was intending on launching a frontal assault against the outskirts of the Outer Rim, in an attempt to raise a force to strike at the heart of the Empire. However, plans went awry, and Cadden found himself engaged in a fierce duel against Carth Dyral for the position of leader. At the end of the duel, though, both warriors ended in a draw, but both with a price to pay. Carth lost his vocal cords, and Cadden his right eye. Agreeing to continue the duel another time, the two decided to focus on getting off Talmohkt, first. However, when civil war erupted, the rebels led by Cadden's sister Tamerah and his long-time friend, Trai Kanossi, alongside Ryy'Suuk, Cadden's sister and two friends managed to convince him to abandon his efforts. After some struggle, Cadden launched into space, using the very single-crewed fighter he arrived on the world with, and destroyed a subspace portal that was to lead the people of Talmohkt to their new home. Staging his own death, Cadden used decisive timing and expert piloting to escape through the portal, as it collapsed upon itself. He emerged in the Outer Rim territories, and ultimately decided to head to the Hoth System, whereupon he crash-landed on the ice world. He barely survived the wreckage, due to the interference of a Zabrak named Zartok Ular. When Cadden awoke three days later, he found himself with an artificial eye, and a thanks to be found with a new ally. He spent the next two weeks in recovery and, with no way off Hoth, he dedicated a lot of that time to meditation and training. Cadden had realized the kind of monster he had become, back on Talmohkt, and saw his time on Hoth as a good one to remain separated from all those whom he cared about, in hopes that his seclusion could rid him of his taint. After the third week, Cadden received a visit from a man named Kladaar, an older ancestor of his from six generations prior, in his spirit form. Kladaar informed Cadden of a dark past that his family had shared, for quite some time, until they had come to the Jedi Order and a new generation of Blackthornes had been established. However, to keep Cadden from walking down the dark path, he refused to disclose any details. Instead, he warned Cadden of the dangers of the Dark Side, that once one walked down that path, it would forever dominate one's destiny, consume their will. And, for those that repented, they would be engulfed in a war with themselves, a war to purge the dark taint that would remain. Kladaar parted with these words: "A Jedi is free to follow the path he has chosen, but do not mistake the path of the Dark Side to be the strongest of the two. It is merely the easiest." It was only afterwards that Cadden had realized that the last he saw his ship, the Pursuer, it was in the Empire's raid of Blackthorne Enterprises two years prior. Taking a gamble, he called the ship on a personal wristpad, and but a couple hours later, his Firespray-class ship found its way to his location, and landed outside. Cadden then made long preparations to leave Hoth, once and for all, and even took Zartok and his medical droid with him after a week's worth of preparations. From there, Cadden re-surfaced, joining forces with Jhuston Vox in the apprehension of the notorious pirate Kaldone for Esran Croft. Zartok had lost his life in the hunt, but the others managed to pull off the bounty with little trouble. However, during the capture of Kaldone, Cadden had detonated the Pursuer, with his armor inside, in order to grant them the time needed to escape Kaldone's ship. Only weeks later had Talon Karde approached him with the gift of the Pursuer II, as a reward for Cadden helping him some time ago. Cadden once again went into seclusion, where he had discovered that Carth Dyral had escaped Talmohkt and, after repenting from the Dark Side himself, had fallen under the magics of a Sith Lord. Cadden faced off with Carth for the last time, aiding the old rival in purging the Sith from his mind, whereupon they parted on peaceful terms. Cadden then joined up with Ryy'Suuk and Jaylin Kumar, and held some minor adventures with the two for the next couple of years. Resurrection He has recently re-surfaced one last time, and re-established Blackthorne Enterprises, this time in its rightful place in the Udine system. The company progressed well, with Cadden collaborating with the Loris Empire to obtain independence from its debtors. Plans went awry, however, and with the help of Cadden's sons, Guan and Jerik, they managed to avoid a disasterous outcome. Cadden decided to leave the new Blackthorne Enterprises, and resold all its assets. Using the credits he got for that, as well as a healthy sum of credits from commission costs from selling older Blackthorne Enterprises designs to Esran Croft Enterprises, before his older incarnation of the company went belly-up, Cadden went into retirement. However, old habits die hard, and within a matter of a couple years Cadden was secretly scouring the galaxy in his Rogue-class Armed Transport, the Rogue Star. After hearing of the Xen'Chi and Gait threats, Cadden assembled together a crack team of combat and information specialists to deal with petty thugs, preparing them to combat the new threats on their own. The Mandalorian Protectors The Falleen named Xhander joined the Rogue Star's crew shortly after Cadden had a run-on with a deadly Dark Jedi by the name of Ilan Garuda, whom Cadden later discovered had been undergoing the Jedi Trials during the Clone Wars, and subsequently fell to the Dark Side during Darth Vader's raiding of the Jedi Temple. Cadden defeated Ilan Garuda twice over the course of three weeks. During those three weeks, he had met with a Jedi Master whom had been in exile since the Clone Wars began named Teslar Maladan. Teslar guided Cadden toward a new path, separate from that of his ragtag team of specialists. After Cadden had supposedly killed Garuda on Holoworld III, he decided to take Teslar's offer and leave the group for his own destiny. Little did he know it would lead him to the planet Mandalore. When Cadden arrived in the Mandalore system, his ship's hyperdrive had suffered a major malfunction, due to the tampering of the Pursuer II's computer systems, causing the ship to explode. Locke Rekkon and Gandon Belak, two surviving Mandalorians, found Cadden floating in space above their world, after receiving news about the explosion, and nursed them back to full health. Only three days later did Cadden become accepted as a true Mandalorian, despite his past being devoid of the Mandalorian lifestyle. Cadden vowed to lead the Mandalorians to their former glory, or die trying. During the quest to reunite the clans, Cadden had been chosen to become the new Mandalore, and he immediately began the process of combating for his position, and reuniting the clans. As soon as the clans were reunited, and the skirmishes between Cadden's Mandalorian Protectors and opposers of the new structure came to a closure, MandalMotors swore its fealty to Cadden, and the company became once again under Mandalorian control. With the fast-approaching threat of the Xen'Chi looming but on the horizon, there was little time to waste. Gandon Belak was charged with resurrecting the Mandalorian Warriors to fend off this and future galactic threats, whilst Locke Rekkon was tasked with the training of the fleet, alongside Admiral Ghrark Fyrebyrd, in orbit of Mandalore. The Xen'Chi Invasion (14 ABY—) Mandalore Cadden and his Protectors did not enter the Xen'Chi War until its closing stages. After the ruinifications of the clans, Cadden had set his sights on rebuilding the Mandalorian strength that it had once had, so long ago. With thousands of shock troopers, and hundreds of supercommandos, he finally viewed his Protectors ready to fight by roughly 14 ABY. They would soon get that chance, when upon heading to the Corellia system, to receive a new ship, a VCX-820 Escort Freighter he later dubbed the Hellfire, Cadden intercepted a call for help from the most unlikely of sources. While in the Corellia system, Cadden visited his father and Cameo Naton, in order to tie up loose ends and square away old feelings that may have been harbored toward him. Then he set off with his son, Jerik, to the source of the distress call he had received but moments earlier, and rendezvoused with the long-thought-dead Cazzik Wyn. He was asked to help him begin his search for his missing sons, Caius and Xanic, leading them to the City of the Jedi. The group discovered the location of the City of the Jedi, and immediately set out to get there before Kamulos would. There, Guan, along with the Conqueror and her crew, met up with them and aided them and the Mandalorians in the defense of the planet from Kamulos's forces. Cadden's moment of glory, and show of his continuous dominating presence over many others, was shown when he successfully beat K471 in personal combat. After the battle was won, Cadden left his sons under Cazzik's care, and returned to Mandalore, to finalize preparations for the war against the Xen'Chi. During the Battle of Taylon, however, a second group of Mandalorians was tasked at traveling to Mechis III and attacking the Xen'Chi presence there. While greatly outnumbered and outgunned, the group did its job well, with the unexpected aid of Oremin operatives that had targeted the world for liberation as well. The Mandalorians, led by a Zabrak shock trooper named Nedth Dinsan, proved their worth to the tee, and combined with Oremin intelligence, gave Cadden a thorough report on Xen'Chi tactics. Operation: Dissection .]] With this information, as well as the final preparations to the Mandalorian First Assault Fleet completed, Cadden set out a daring plan to strike back at the Xen'Chi and sever their invasion path which separated Mandalore from Coruscant itself. Nicknaming it Operation: Dissection, the order of attack was to strike at close-by systems, and purge them of Xen'Chi presence. The series of attacks began with an overwhelming victory at Woostri, and continued toward Aquaris. With their victory at Aquaris, the Mandalorians made an astonishing example of their growing strength, as they continue to press foward in their goal to stall the Xen'Chi invasion long enough for the galaxy to counter-attack. Now, the Mandalorians ferociously duke it out on Ploo, poising to strike next at Obroa-Skai and continue onward to Myrkr. If done well, the tactic would cause the Xen'Chi to divert a fleet to Mandalore, where the planet would then be defended by the Protectors' full arsenal, and show the Xen'Chi just how unwelcome they are in this galaxy. However, not all went according to plan. As the Assault Fleet returned home, they found Mandalore already under seige, and the Mandalorian defensive weakening by the minute. In a moment of desperation, the Assault Fleet counter-attacked, and sent the space above Mandalore into disarray. Cadden led the assault on his Basilisk War Droid, until it was destroyed, where he was picked up by Kya Waise on the Star's End. It was during this time Cadden experienced a disturbing vision of mysterious proportions. Being awoken from his subconscious state, Cadden was questioned by Kya where he should be dropped off. After some consideration, Cadden instructed her and her crew to drop him off above Kedalbe, Mandalore's capital city, so that he could liberate the command tower from a pressing Xen'Chi presence. Making his way to the Square, where the remaining Mandalorians in the city were holed up, Cadden managed to get to the command tower and call for reinforcements. Just as the battle inside the Square seemed to be at a loss, Garen Starfall and his Mandalorians arrived to provided the assistance that was desperately needed. Unfortunately, it was soon discovered that the Xen'Chi commander was a Chosen. He quickly made work of several Mandalorians, and nearly killed Garen, before confronted by Cadden. The duel was fierce, and quick. In the end, Cadden utilized the unorthodox method of destroying an explosive barrel near the Chosen to shatter his weapon, a deadly barbed lightsaber-resistant whip, before he leapt over the Xen'Chi warrior and penetrated his chest with one of his lightsabers. The Chosen, however, responded by cleaving some of Cadden's flesh with the remnant of his whip. It was at that point that Cadden returned the favor, with interest, by relentlessly severing the Chosen's head from his body. He was then forced to leave the battlefield, from which point he provided some assistance to the Mandalorians from the command tower. Afterwards, Cadden picked up an assault rifle and continued to stay in the fight from the perspective of the tower, until Kladaar's voice instructed him to rely on the Force to aid him in battle. It was at this moment that Cadden felt more connected to the Force than ever before, and surged into the heat of the battle, once again saving Garen's life as he and two others were surrounded by several Xen'Chi. Once Garen was clear, he took charge of the battle, and coordinated Nedth Dinsan's and Aeorn Mors' forces into the Square. When the battle was over, Cadden collapsed in exhaustion, later to wake up, and on the road to recovery. It was at this point that he made his firm decision, that he would place the Jedi, his friends and family, as his priority, and thus began the transitioning of his title over to Garen Starfall. The Second Fall Cadden left Mandalore shortly after his recovery, and traveled with Ryy'Suuk and Neddac to the Udine System. There, he recovered an old, forgotten ship, and continued to investigate the mysterious outposts deep within the asteroid field. Afterwards, Cadden traveled to Onderon, where just after his arrival the planet was attacked by the Cult of Shadow. With very few truly skilled Jedi to guard the praxeum from a full frontal assault of such a caliber, Cadden teamed up with his father, and an unlikely encounter with his old apprentice, Zan Fyar, to help drive off the Cult. None were aware of the Cult's true intentions of the attack. Faarel departed from the group, after sensing Sivter in the Force, and went to investigate, leaving Cadden and Zan to finish off a group of Dark Jedi that were attempting to enter a side entrance to the praxeum. Once the two Jedi defeated the group, Cadden led Zan around to find an unlocked door, and more cultists. There, Blackthorne engaged in a duel with a wounded Dark Knight. During the duel, he maintained a defensive position, until he sensed a disturbance in the Force. He set for a distraction, and utilizing the time, made his way into the Praxeum, where he eventually came upon his dieing father in the archives. There, Faarel asked Cadden to remain with the Jedi, but before he could respond, his father died in his arms. Cadden became enraged, and stormed out of the temple, hell-bent on destroying the Cult of Shadow, particularly the one who killed his father. The quest lead Cadden and Zan to a distant planet deep in the Unknown Regions. There, he recovered an ancient sword by the name of Soulblade. Though warned against the idea by both Zan and a Jedi spirit, Cadden nonetheless took the blade, casting his own two lightsabers aside. The price for this acquisition of power was Cadden's eyesight, which was later enhanced through the Force to a level Cadden had never experienced before. With the blade in hand, he proceeded on his mission to become powerful enough to avenge his father's death. This mission lead him to another place within the Unknown Regions. Due to Cadden's desire for power, he threw caution into the wind and traveled to an ancient tomb. Therein, Cadden and Zan entered a burial ground, whereupon he unleashed a powerful spirit from its grave. Vying for additional power, he was unwilling to be controlled, and so the failed attempt resulted in the merging of both his soul, and that of his greatest enemy - the Nomad Soul - into his body. The merging complete, Cadden gained the wisdom, experience, and power of the Nomad Soul. He retained his own memories and personality, but the price was severe, as Cadden knew he could no longer return to the Jedi Order. With only Zan at his side, he decided to travel to the Udine System once more, and set up a base of operations within the asteroid field. The Betrayer Cadden set up base in the Udine System, having discovered thousands of individuals frozen in cyrogenic sleep onboard a large asteroid facility deep within the field. From here, he staged his plans for striking against the Cult of Shadow. Utilizing the Battle of Onderon to his own ends, Cadden began a quest to seek out Jedi who wished to aid him in his quest to hunt down and destroy those responsible for his father's death. He and Zan left Udine in charge of Olan Signas, commanding officer of Cadden's new army. Knowing that the dark side presence within Soulblade would be sensed and discovered, Cadden opted to leave the powerful Sith artifact behind. At this point in his transition, the blade no longer held any significant powers on its own, as the Nomad Soul's consciousness had transfered to Cadden earlier. Thus, departing from the blade had no effect on Blackthorne. In its place, he took a crimson lightsaber which belonged to an ancestor of his, Trak Blackthorne. Knowing he would not need to utilize the blade, its presence was merely for show. The two set out for Taylon to seek allies to their cause. Aware of the danger of sensing the Dark Side within him, Cadden was prepared to exercise a new technique he had picked up, that would mask his presence in the Force and cause any who sensed it to believe what he wished them to. Though Cadden was uncertain if his old friend, Cazzik Wyn, would see through the mask, he was confident that most of the other Jedi in the Order would not be so skilled. It was this technique, which Cadden called Shadow Calling, which would be the determining factor of his success. Skills Cadden's powress in battle should not be overlooked. Trained by Trai Kanossi in several aspects of melee and ranged combat, Cadden can take a stand against even the most formidable of opponents. Cadden's skills in the martial arts are as follows: *Teräs Käsi *Hijkata *Echani art *Stava In addition to his proficiency in the martial arts, Cadden is also an expert marksman and a highly skilled user of both lightsabers and vibroswords. Aside from combat abilities, Cadden is a highly intelligent individual, proof from his track record which trails behind him wherever he goes. He is also an exceptional pilot and mechanic, and capable of patching up most non-lethal injuries he sustains. Training in the Force Cadden's training in the Force was largely based off of self-discovery. Because of this, Cadden often squared off with the Dark Side in himself, once even embracing it. It was not until he learned of why these urges occurred, that he was able to further control them. Nevertheless, since he discovered his connection to the Force, Cadden engaged in constant self-training, despite popular belief that this lead him down the path of a Dark Jedi. The belief eventually became reality, as Cadden's quest for revenge through power lead him down the path of the Dark Side once again. Awareness and Early Training Cadden became aware of his potency to the Force through his false brother and later close friend, Trai Kanossi. During a personal mission on one of Cadden's many ships he owned in his lifetime, Trai learned of his connection to the Force through a medical scan. Though because Trai was not a relative to Cadden, it led Cadden to believe that he, too, was capable of wielding the powers of the Force. This proved to be true in his own medical scan, and thus began Cadden's journey. Later, Cadden met with Renalla Starrider, as he was already diving into the mysteries of the Force. Though the two eventually fell in love, she served as Cadden's mentor, showing him the Light Side and the dangers of the Dark Side. It was not much, as their time together was cut short after the fall of the Frozen Empire on Talmohkt, but it was enough for Cadden. Trai also departed Blackthorne, leaving him with the philosophy of the Grey. He would later abandon this philosophy, in favor of additional power and the Dark Side of the Force. Developing Skills Lightsaber Combat Since Cadden's merging of souls with the Nomad Soul, he has become a great wielder of the lightsaber, as well as his current primary weapon, Soulblade. Previously, he had little to no formal training in the seven forms of combat. But, with the Nomad Soul's wisdom, experience, and power embedded in him, he has gained valuable skills and traits he had not possessed before. Force Powers Most of Cadden's Force powers are a means of aiding him in battle. However, he also uses common rudimentary and fundamental Force abilities, and has a strong ability to communicate through the Force. Though others may be able to possess this feat, Cadden may do so much easier than most are capable of. Cadden is also capable, though not in his own will, to form bonds in the Force. This allows him to sense wakes in the Force, where others could not. He typically employs this technique when seeking out Force-sensitive individuals, and has done so on two occasions - to find the Jedi at Corellia, and to find and aid Cazzik Wyn in finding his sons. Cadden is also prone to receive visions in the Force and, at certain times, even seek out these visions. However, if he receives a vision during his waking hours, it can be very draining, both physically and mentally. Aside from these particular powers, Cadden holds an array of command over the Force, primarily for combat-enhancement actions such as Battle Precognition and Force Valor. However, he is known to use Saber throw, Force Push (and its variants), Force Grip and Force Healing. Also, he has the capability to use darker powers such as a much lesser version of Force Destruction, and also sometimes employs Force Rage during his duels. Though not the extent of his abilities in the Force, they will be found typically employed if necessary. Recently, due to the Dark Side powers inherent in the Soulblade, Cadden has acquired an advanced version of Force Sight, granting him the ability to see far better than he had before. The Force literally shows Cadden his surroundings, providing far more information than the blackness that used to be his eyes could ever provide him. Upon the merging both the Nomad Soul's and Cadden's souls, Blackthorne has gained a variety of new techniques and abilities in the Force. Among them was the capability of understanding alien languages with ease, as well as many Force abilities stemming from the Dark Side (including the varied stages of Force Lightning and Force Wound). Upon his staging of operations out of Udine, Cadden has begun to work on a new technique that combines Force Concealment and Force Cloak into an advanced method of hiding oneself, both visually and through the Force. Potential Though he has come a long way since he first began his training, Cadden still holds a lot more potential. He has seen many battles, and often uncovers more of his potential through each, as he continues to grow in the Force. Even now, Cadden still possesses strong raw power in the Force, and he continues to learn what the extent of his abilities truly are. Oftentimes, he even surprises himself with what he can accomplish through the Force. One such even was while on Falleen, Cadden was able to hide the Pursuer II, while rested in its concealed docking bay on the Rogue Star, from two Falleen customs officers. Active Threads *Eye for an Eye *The Xen'Chi Invasion: Dissection (Completed) *Guardians of the Force: Introductions (Former) *The Mandalorian Protectors (Former) Category:Featured ArticleCategory:CaddenCategory:CorelliansCategory:Bounty HuntersCategory:DarksidersCategory:Mandalorian ProtectorsCategory:MandaloriansCategory:Jedi Order